Metabolic Functions Of Bcaas A Fuel for Exercise

Muscle has a limited capacity to oxidize amino acids, and mammalian skeletal muscle has been shown to be capable of oxidizing only six of the amino acids: alanine, aspartate, glutamate, leucine, isoleucine, and valine.2 Of these, the BCAAs may be quantitatively the most significant, and it is known that BCAA oxidation is promoted by exercise.3 The BCAAs can act as precursors of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (Krebs cycle) intermediates following removal of their amino group by reversible transamination, as illustrated in Figure 13.2. Transamination is followed by